Decision looming on Iglesias

BOSTON -- With Will Middlebrooks beginning his rehab assignment Tuesday night at McCoy Stadium, the Red Sox have about four days to decide what they're going to do with Jose Iglesias.

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By
Tim Britton
Posted Jun. 4, 2013 @ 5:34 pm

BOSTON -- With Will Middlebrooks beginning his rehab assignment Tuesday night at McCoy Stadium, the Red Sox have about four days to decide what they're going to do with Jose Iglesias.

Over the weekend, manager John Farrell suggested the Sox might keep Iglesias with the big-league roster as a utility man even when Middlebrooks returns. Farrell reiterated on Tuesday that Boston is "open-minded" to that possibility.

"Players tell you when they're ready and sometimes that doesn't always work because there are some things out of their control," Farrell said. "Jose has done a very good job for us. And in very limited action at third base, he's played it flawlessly. We have no limitation at all on either position on the left side of the infield for him."

Therein lies some of the rub, though. Iglesias saw his first professional action at second base on Tuesday night, playing the last two innings of Boston's blowout win there. He handled one simple forceout at the bag without issue.

Before the game, ,Farrell said the team will look to get him grounders at second eventually, but that it hasn't laid out a schedule for that just yet.

"As a pending decision nears, that will be taken into account," said Farrell. "That's not to slight anything or skip steps along the way for a potential scenario with him in a utility role. That's where we're at right now."

Iglesias has excelled in two major-league stints that have bookended a period of struggle in the minors with Pawtucket. Farrell said he hasn't seen a player put up such a drastically different batting average in the bigs compared to his minor-league track record.

"The one thing that's clear in Jose's case is he isn't fazed or intimidated in the environment here. And that goes back to believing in his own abilities," Farrell said. "He's benefited from some balls finding their way in for base hits. I think the most encouraging thing is that you look at the way he addresses pitches now, with the aggressiveness in his swing, it might not always result in a base hit, but hard contact is more frequent, and with each passing day the confidence continues to grow. To predict that a guy that hits in the low-.300s is going to come to the big leagues and be a low-.300s, mid-.300s-type hitter - that's going out on a limb. But he's done an excellent job so far."

While Iglesias has found his stroke, shortstop Stephen Drew has lost his over the last few weeks. After a horrendous start to the year, Drew had lifted his average to .245 by mid-May with three solid weeks at the plate. But over the last three weeks, it's dipped back down during an 8-for-52 stretch for the shortstop.

"There have been stretches of streakiness," Farrell said. "There have been times when he's been pitched to with a constant mix where he's been out on his front foot. He's faced more left-handers in that mix as well that have kind of negated his power, particularly to the pull side. And obviously there's a guy that's continued to work and tried to gain some consistency."